JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Life-altering charges were dropped for a man accused of selling cocaine in an September 2022 traffic stop Wednesday, according to court records.
"It's [been] a year of struggle," Reed, 46, told First Coast News in August. "A year of mental torture. A year of mental imbalance."
Reed, who pleaded not guilty about a month after the arrest, said he's lost his job and car. The case sparked an administrative investigation at JSO.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office's report, officers saw a man agree to sell a homeless man cocaine for $20, provided by JSO, at a Mobile gas station Philips Highway on Sept. 9, 2022. Officers saw the man walk onto Westmont Street and approach Reed.
The two "had an exchange," the report said, and Reed began following Cobb back to Philips Highway. Cobb then sold the undercover officer a sum crack cocaine, officers witnessed. The man and Reed were then both arrested. The man was sentenced to 167 days in Duval County Jail, according to court records.
A police body camera video of the incident shows an officer putting Reed in handcuffs. The video shows Reed asking the officer what they were looking for. A second body camera video, where Reed's family were present during the arrest, shows a police officer putting on gloves and then unbuttoning Reed's pants, searching his private area and backside.
Reed can be heard telling the police officer he is "doing too much" but the officer's response was "No, I'm not." Reed suggested doing the search at the jail.
"He's clenching hard, he's got something up there," an officer said.
The report did not mention the strip search.
